


ocean

by simplecaelum



Series: heterochromia [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Drinking, Gay Shiro (Voltron), Heterochromia, M/M, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 12:03:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16095281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplecaelum/pseuds/simplecaelum
Summary: Shiro had always tried to live his life normally, knowing his soulmate would enter his life when the time was right.He never though the 'right time' would be at his fraternity's party - when both of them were too far gone for their own good.





	ocean

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Instagram: @simplecaelum
> 
> | unbetaed |  
> | update: 9/26/18: formating/spelling errors |

“I’m glad your mom let me take you to the beach today,” Shiro said, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of them.

“It’s your birthday, Shiro, she’d probably let you give me drugs if you asked,” Keith countered.

“I highly doubt that,” Shiro laughed.

Keith looked at him with wide eyes. “She lets you get away with more stuff than me! She trusts you.”

Shiro smiled at that. “She must trust me an awful lot to let her high school freshman go off with some junior who just got his licence this morning,” he teased, imitating the way Krolia had fretted over Keith at the beginning of the school year.

“You’re not just ‘some junior’, Shiro, you know that,” Keith countered. “You’ve been my best friend since middle school.”

Shiro got on the off ramp and followed the GPS to the beach parking, which was nearly empty.

“Remind me why you wanted to go to the beach for your birthday, which is in February?” Keith asked.

Shiro turned off the car and shrugged. “It’s my birthday, do I need a reason?”

They got out of the car, and Keith shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I guess not.”

After getting the supplies Shiro had packed and a small cooler Keith had brought along, they picked a spot on the beach close to the water. Laying a blanket down, they set the food they brought at the back of the blanket and then sat in front of it.

For a while they sat in silence, content to listen to the sound of the waves as they rolled in.

“I got you a present,” Keith started. Shiro noticed Keith grab the cooler and pull it in front of them. “I know you said you didn’t want anything, but it’s small.”

Shiro sighed and waited patiently for Keith’s gift, as he didn’t have a choice in the matter anymore.

Keith opened the cooler, and the lid blocked Shiro from seeing what was inside. Keith looked at him seriously.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed.

Shiro rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

“Now hold out your hands.”

“Keith, is this necessary?” Shiro asked, slightly opening his right eye.

“Yes, it’s necessary, and no peeking!”

Shiro shut his eye again and held out his hands, chuckling to himself. It wasn’t long before he felt something being placed there and then a zip that sounded strangely familiar to a lighter.

“Okay, open.”

In his hands was a small vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting and a number 4 candle.

Shiro deadpanned at Keith, unamused. Keith would have burst out laughing had it not been for what he saw.

Concern crossed Keith’s face and Shiro instantly felt bad. Only having ‘true birthdays’ on leap years was something Keith loved to make fun of him for, much to Shiro’s dismay.

“Thank you Keith, really, I love the cupcake. It means a lot,” Shiro said earnestly, but Keith didn’t seem to hear.

“Shiro… your eye.”

“What about it?” he asked, crossing his eyes momentarily before remembering he would need a mirror to see it.

“It’s blue. You... your right eye is still grey but your left eye is blue.”

Shiro processed the information, trying to figure out if Keith was playing a joke on him.

Keith rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone from his back pocket. “I’m serious, look.” He snapped a picture of Shiro and turned it back around.

The photo showed Shiro holding his birthday cupcake and looking at the camera. His eyes were just how Keith had described.

“Woah…”

Keith nodded and smiled widely, finding it unbelievable too. “You know what this means, right? You have a soulmate.”

Shiro smiled at that fact. He had known others who had soulmates, but had never considered he might have one, too.

He glanced down at the cupcake, the flame on top still flickering. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the 4 candle. No one got a soulmate at the age of four, and he was glad the universe didn’t tease him like Keith did.

He closed both of his eyes and blew out the candle.

…

Shiro cheered along with everyone else as the team scored one last goal as the timer counted down, only three seconds left on the clock. Even if the other team somehow managed to score, they would still lose.

The crowd was filled with school spirit, and Shiro found himself getting lost in the energy.

Adam turned to Shiro, yelling over everyone else. “Hope you’re ready to get plastered, this game qualifies us for finals!”

The buzzer sounded the end of the game and the band started playing the school’s fight song. The two followed the crowd out of the stadium and Shiro sent a quick text to Keith telling him not to start drinking until he got back.

     Keith: _Too late ;)_

“Keith started without us,” Shiro told Adam as they reached the car.

“Little shit…”

By the time they got back to the house, a few of their brothers had already made it back and - along with those who had stayed behind like Keith - had music blaring and drinks flowing.

Shiro walked in with Adam and they both headed for the kitchen. As expected, Keith had two shots lined up for both of them.

“Why do you celebrate when you don’t even go to the games?” Adam asked, taking his first shot.

Shiro followed suit, the alcohol only slightly burning his throat. He quickly took the other shot as well, not one to drag out the torture.

“This taste like black licorice, what the hell is it?”

“It’s Jaeger, Adam, jeez. Shit’s expensive, and if you’re not gonna take the second one then hand it over,” Keith grumbled. Adam glared at him and took the second shot, never breaking eye contact.

Shiro scoffed at the two, his eyes rolling. “Can you two chill out for a night? I want a fun night, not a night with you two bickering. Don’t ruin my buzz, please.”

“You just took two shots, so no you don’t have a buzz yet,” Keith corrected, poking his side.

“Yet being the operative word, Kogane.”

A few minutes later, Shiro felt a familiar warmth as he sat on the counter, talking to a girl from his accounting class. He didn’t remember her name, but she seemed cool to talk to and he was pretty sure she was in their sister sorority.

“Hey, do you wanna go dance?” she asked, stepping forward and putting a hand on his knee.

Shiro chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, I’m actually good, but, thanks.”

She pouted but removed her hand, which Shiro was thankful for.

He’d known for a while that he was only interested in guys, but he hadn’t explicitly come out. Any time someone pressed him on any relationship besides platonic, he simply gestured to his eyes and used his soulmate as an excuse.

Those who had soulmates either waited anxiously for the day they met or lived life normally until it happened. Shiro prefered not to go out of his way, figuring his soulmate would show up when the time was right.

He had gotten used to the tugging in his gut, the longing for someone unknown, and had decided that he would focus on being the best man he could be for his soulmate, and the best man he could be was himself.

Shiro tried to pick up the conversation again, but he could tell she wasn’t interested anymore. He sighed, feeling the alcohol start to take effect and started not to care about keeping up conversations.

“I’m gonna head outside,” he said, hoping off the counter and grabbing a beer out of the fridge.

He made his way through the living room, surprised to find so many people had arrived in such a short amount of time.

He quickly found Adam in the backyard, sitting by the cooler like he usually was during parties.

“Too crowded inside?” Shiro guessed, taking a seat next to him on the ground. Only getting a nod, Shiro groaned motioned to all the people in the backyard. “Loosen up, go dance. We won the game tonight, so celebrate! Everything else can wait.”

Adam studied him for a second, probably deciding if he was going to continue to mope about whatever was on his mind.

“I bet Keith is having a great time,” Shiro pushed, knowing Adam couldn’t resist the challenge.

“Alright, Shirogane. Two more shots, you and me. Right now,” he countered.

Shiro groaned at the use of his name. “I just opened this beer. Are you trying to make me sick?”

“If you just opened it then you haven’t had that much. Use it as a chaser,” he shrugged, heading back into the house.

Rolling his eyes and stumbling slightly as he stood, Shiro followed him.

A total of four shots and two beers later, Shiro was starting to feel some regret. He had lost himself in the music after his last two shots with Adam, and he hadn’t seen Keith since the first two.

The music blared in his ears and his body moved with the crowd to the beat, though he was pretty sure he didn’t even know this song. He found it hard to care.

Someone bumped into him from behind, pushing him forward slightly, but he decided to ignore it. It happened a lot and was probably on accident.

“Shiro!” he heard someone call from behind him as his shirt was tugged on.

Was that Adam’s voice? Had to be.

He turned around to find, it was indeed Adam.

“What’s up?” Shiro asked, though it probably sounded more slurred than he realized.

His mind started to blank out as he saw Adam’s lips moving, though what he actually said was lost to the music. Something about Keith?

Adam stared at him for a second, looking kind of pissed off. He leaned closer to Shiro and spoke again. “Keith’s… fight… front yard.”

Shit, Shiro thought.

He nodded to Adam who turned and lead the way. Shiro grabbed onto the back of his shirt until they were in the hallway and he knew he wouldn’t get lost.

The music was softer in the hall, though it made Shiro realize just how much his vision was shifting since he was trying to actually walk in a straight line.

“I tried to calm him down but he’ll only listen to you,” Adam groaned.

The front door was propped open and as they got closer Shiro could recognize the sounds of angry shouting, both Keith’s voice and some one he didn’t recognize.

“Knock it off, Kogane!” Adam yelled as he stepped onto the front porch.

Shiro followed suit and leaned against a pillar for support.

Surveying the scene, he noticed Keith was still a distance from the other guy, who was standing near their giant standing letters. Well two were still standing.

If Shiro had to guess, the new guy knocked it over, and Keith told him off. Probably not the best of responses, but Shiro also wasn’t sure how much Keith had been drinking.

The new guy, Shiro noticed wasn’t the most sober himself, and was screaming back at Keith. It was difficult to focus on what exactly was being said, but Shiro knew Keith might start swinging at any moment.

“Alright, alright,” Shiro finally said, stepping towards Keith and nearly tripping over his own feet. “You’re both drunk, and you need to back off before you do something you’ll regret.”

“Like you’re one to talk, Shiro,” Keith shot back.

“Hey, I’m not the one about to fight…” Shiro gestured towards the other guy dismissively, not knowing his name.

“Lance,” the stranger piped in.

“Lance,” Shiro repeated firmly, still looking at Keith.

They stared each other down for a few seconds until Keith rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

Shiro sighed in relief before turning to face Lance.

“You should prob-” His breath caught in his throat as their eyes connected.

It was dark out, but the light from the house was bright enough to show Lance’s left eye fade from a dark grey to a clear blue.

He couldn’t see himself, but Shiro didn’t need a mirror to know both of his eyes were now the same stormy color he’d had before his 16th birthday.

The pulling feeling he had always shoved down was nowhere to be found, not that he was looking too hard, but he just knew.

He did, however, feel his feet push him forward before he could fully register what was happening.

“What the hell, Shiro?” Keith asked as Shiro wrapped his arms around Lance.

Shiro felt Lance freeze in his hold, but Shiro couldn’t do anything but hold him.

From somewhere behind him he heard Adam and Keith arguing, but the words they said don’t register.

A part of him that he had never realized was missing was now there, and a feeling of completeness washed over him. Shiro hoped Lance felt it too.

They pulled away from each other at the same time, only to stare into each others eyes.

It was so hard to believe that his entire life, Shiro had pushed away any feeling about his soulmate, any hope or expectation he could have had. He realized now it didn’t matter if he’d had expectations in the first place. Lance would have blown all of them away.

“Hey,” Lance whispered, breaking the silence.

“Hey,” Shiro repeated back to him.

His mind swam with so many thoughts that he wasn’t able to organize into any fashion. When he finally found it in him to speak again, he sounded like a drunk idiot - which, maybe he was one of those things at that moment.

“You, uh.. Inside? Wanna come inside?”

Lance simply nodded as a goofy smile settled on his lips.

Shiro turned back to the house, his arm slipping around Lance’s waist and holding him close as they started to walk, or in their case stumble past Keith.

Shiro could see he was in shock, but gave him a huge grin. Both Shiro and Lance had nearly forgotten about the almost fight, much to Keith’s dismay, who was still fuming and ready to fight.

Somehow they made it up the porch stairs and Shiro glanced at Adam, knowing it was light enough to show Shiro’s eyes clearly.

He saw Adam’s eyes flicker down to Lance and back up to Shiro, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Close the door at least,” Adam murmured, and Shiro laughed at the dark blush that spread across Lance’s cheeks.

The music inside was louder than Shiro remembered, though it had probably been that loud from the beginning and he had gotten used to it. Either way, it was not pleasant now that he had experienced quiet.

He lead Lance upstairs and away from the crowd, into his bedroom. He purposely left the door open, not wanting Lance to think he was going to take advantage of him.

“Didn’t that guy say to close the door?” Lance reminded him, wiggling his eyebrows.

Shiro laughed, secretly loving the boldness of his soulmate.

“That he did.” Shiro moved back towards the door and gently shut it, flipping the lightswitch that turned on the Christmas lights he had hung around his dorm. Much more romantic.

“Fairy lights?” Lance giggled, and Shiro was sure that was the cutest sound he had ever heard.

He shrugged in response. “I like soft lighting, what can I say?”

He took a step towards Lance, who had wandered over to his dresser. “Lions at the zoo,” he stated obviously, making himself laugh again. “You made and painted a rocket model. Nerrrrr-duh,” he continued, drawing our the last word dramatically.

“Is my nerdiness funny?” Shiro asked, a smile spreading across his lips.

“No,” Lance said, still laughing. “No, it’s adorable.” He tried his best to put on a serious face. “Lions and space. Lions in space. Space lions.” It didn’t last long.

Shiro laughed with him, and for a moment considered that he might be dreaming.

“Nope,” Lance said, popping the ‘p’, and Shiro realized he might’ve accidentally said that out loud.

Before Shiro could register anything else, Lance pressed their lips together.

He melted into the kiss, his arms circling around Lance’s waist to keep him close. Shiro had kissed other people before, but nothing compared to this.

It was almost as if an energy had enveloped them, nearly suffocating but also the only thing allowing them to breathe. The feeling of absolute completeness washed over Shiro again, as if he would never need anything else to survive. In the back of his mind he knew that wasn’t true, but the alcohol helped him ignore that for now.

Regretfully, Lance pulled away, though only enough to whisper against Shiro’s lips.

“Does that feel like a dream?”

Shiro pressed their lips together once more, drawing a chuckle from Lance.

“I’m gonna have to go with yes,” he replied.

Lance hummed, resting his head against Shiro’s chest. “Yeah, me too…”

An idea quickly formed in Shiro’s muddled mind. “I know how to make sure you remember me when you wake up.”

Lance pulled away, looking concerned. “I could never forget you-”

Shiro leaned down to suck harshly on Lance’s neck, effectively cutting him off.

A moan filled the space around them as Shiro found another spot to mark, biting slightly when Lance rolled his hips into him. Lance’s breath hitched and he tilted his head so Shiro could get a better angle.

Somehow his hands fell onto Lance’s ass, pulling him closer. He decided one more would do the trick, but he had always been a romantic at heart.

“You’re gorgeous,” he whispered in Lance’s ear, pulling a sigh from him, and more than likely a blush.

“Shiro…” Lance whined, trying to hide his face in the crook of Shiro’s neck.

All he got was a chuckle in return before Shiro latched on to the spot just above his collar bone. Once he felt satisfied it would bruise, he pulled away to admire his work, smirking. “That’s gonna show tomorrow for sure.”

“Good,” Lance breathed, trying to regain his composure. “Though now I’m even more convinced this is a dream. Everything’s dizzy.”

“I think that just means you’re drunk, babe,” Shiro laughed, pulling Lace towards the bed.

Lance followed behind him, though stumbling a bit. “You called me.. babe.”

Shiro turned back to him as he sat on the bed.

“Is that alright?” He asked, biting his lip. He was still holding Lance’s hand, and figured it wasn’t too terrible if he hadn’t pulled away.

Lance nodded back enthusiastically before crawling les than gracefully onto Shiro’s lap. A hand on his hip halted his movements and he looked down at Shiro, confused.

“I have to wine and dine you. My grandmother would roll over in her grave if I didn’t treat you like a princess- or in your case, a prince.”

“Prince’s are usually spoiled and get what they want,” Lance protested.

Shiro chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not sure if you’re arguing that you are a prince so you should get what you want, or that you aren’t ‘cause you’re not spoiled.”

Lance sighed heavily, and murmured, “That was a lot of words… too many.” He shook his head and blinked slowly. “Shiro… I think ‘m drunk.” He leaned forward and rested his head on Shiro’s shoulder. “D’you ever imagine meeting me? That I’d be drunk?”

Shiro rubbed his thumbs along Lance’s sides soothingly, content to stay like this forever.

“Honestly, no. I tried not to think about it too much. I knew if I did then it would take over my whole life,” Shiro confessed. “I knew you were out there, just had to wait.”

“Here I am,” Lance sing-songed.

“Here you are,” Shiro repeated, holding Lance a little tighter.

They stayed like that as the minutes ticked on, simply holding each other. Shiro had almost drifted off when a loud ringing startled him.

Lance groaned and sat up, fishing his phone from his back pocket.

Shiro watched patiently as his soulmate glared at the phone before answering it. “What, Plax?”

Decidedly ignoring the conversation, he trailed kisses up Lance’s neck and sucked gently along his jawline. Lance moaned softly and playfully slapped his arm as he kept talking. Shiro figured the slap was supposed to be a warning, but it only encouraged him.

Lance hung up the phone and sighed. “You embarrass me, Shiro,” he half scolded.

“What can I say? I’m possessive.” Shiro pulled Lance closer and wrapped his arms tightly around the other’s torso. “So what was that about?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“I take it you weren’t listening,” Lance chuckled, his fingers playing with Shiro’s floof absentmindedly.

Shiro shrugged in response. “I was a bit preoccupied.”

“My friend Plax is coming through with a few of ‘er friends and they knew I was gonna be around here. They’re gonna head back to the apartments afterwards…”

Shiro frowned at the way Lance trailed off.

“Hey, none of that. We have each other now, and ’m gonna see you so soon,” Lance promised.

“But you could just,” Shiro shrugged his shoulders dramatically, “stay the night.”

Lance chuckled and pushed against his chest. Shiro let himself fall against the bed as Lance hovered over him, smirking. “As much as I would love to spend the night with an Adonis,” Lance started, rolling his hips into Shiro’s for good measure,” I was promised a wine and dine.”

Shiro groaned as his head fell back against the mattress and grabbed Lance’s hips firmly, pressing back against him.

“My point exactly,” Lance whispered, not trusting his voice to speak louder. He couldn’t help the shiver that ran through his body, but he reluctantly got off of Shiro’s lap.

Shiro rubbed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. Lance was right. They were both drunk, and even though they were soulmates, they just met.

“I’ll walk you downstairs,” he finally said, though a bit dejected. He found himself missing Lance just from the thought of him leaving.

Lance smiled and Shiro reached out his hand as he stood, beaming when Lance took it. He interlaced their fingers and leaned down, giving Lance a gentle kiss. He pulled away before he got too caught up in the other, and moved towards the door.

They made their way downstairs where surprisingly most of the people had cleared out, though Shiro assumed they were in the backyard since the music was still reverberating through the walls.

Lance squeezed his hand when they reached the bottom of the stairs, making Shiro smile down at him.

“I’m so lucky,” he muttered.

He saw Lance roll his eyes before leaning on his shoulder as they walked toward the front door.

Shiro vaguely made a note to talk to the other guys about leaving it propped open, but he found it hard to care at the moment.

The cool night air circled them as they stepped outside. Down the street Shiro could hear other parties going, and for a moment he wondered what time it was.

Lance turned to face him and all his attention went onto the man in front of him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Lance reassured him. Shiro frowned, realizing Lance was about to leave.

“Promise?”

Lance tapped the side of his neck where Shiro had left hickies. “How could I forget?” He pushed up on the tips of his toes and kissed Shiro once more. Shiro held on to his hips, every fuzzy thought in his mind screaming to not let him go.

“Lance!”

The two turned to see a group of girls waving from the street at them. One wolf whistled, causing Lance to flip them off before pulling away.

Shiro let his hands fall to his sides. They would see each other tomorrow, he reminded himself.

Lance stumbled down the stairs towards the girls and Shiro heard one of them ask, “Who’s Mr. Sexy?”

“That’s my boyfriend, look, he fixed my eyes,” Lance responded, dramatically pointing to his eyes. Shiro felt his brain short-circuit at the word boyfriend, a blush that was not from the alcohol spreading over his cheeks.

Shaking his head, he went back inside to look for food as his stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten all night.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw Keith and Adam waiting expectantly with three shot glasses sitting on the island.

“You’re going to give me alcohol poisoning,” Shiro complained.

Keith shrugged. “Not our fault we have to celebrate finding your soulmate, even if he is a-”

“Watch it, Keith,” Shiro warned, rolling his eyes and picking up the shot glass.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is highly appreciated!
> 
> There will be a third installment to this series, but I do not have a date set for that to be out. It will most likely be posted on my Instagram first.


End file.
